Sting Op Reveals NRC Security Gaps

Using little more than a post-office box at Mail Boxes Etc., a telephone and a fax machine, undercover congressional investigators were able to obtain and counterfeit licenses enabling them to buy enough radioactive material to build a deadly dirty bomb. This is just the latest in a series of post-9/11 government reports detailing gaps in NRC security.

The sting will be the subject of subcommittee hearings today.  In an interview yesterday an NRC commissioner explained that resources are limited and the NRC has focused its efforts on what it feels are the biggest threats to public safety. He did admit that the counterfeiting of licenses is a serious problem and a solution must be found. (More nuclear regulatory commission stories.)